I'm at the 2012 Annual AWP Conference!

Each year, The Association of Writers and Writing Programs holds its Annual Conference & Bookfair in a different region of North America in order to celebrate the outstanding authors, teachers, writing programs, literary centers, and small press publishers of that region. The Annual Conference typically features 400 presentations: readings, lectures, panel discussions, and forums plus hundreds of book signings, receptions, dances, and informal gatherings. The conference attracts more than 9,000 attendees and more than 550 publishers. It’s one of the biggest and liveliest literary gatherings in North America. 


This year the conference is being held in Chicago from February 29th - March 3rd. I'm so elated to be in attendance. The Keynote address will be given by Margaret Atwood, author of The Blind Assassin, Bodily Harm and the Year of the Flood to name a few of her works. Also in attendance will be Audrey Niffenegger, who is the author of The Time Traveler's Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry, along with Pulitzer Prize winner and the current United States Poet Laureate, Philip Levine, as well as Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and wait...wait.....Nikki Giovanni. Yes, Nikki Giovanni! Do you remember my interview with Ms. Giovanni last year? If not, click here to view the three part series we did together. And that's not all, there are so many other talented and distinguished authors in attendance. To find out more about the presenters, authors, workshops or the conference, go the AWP conference site. And if you are here at the conference, let me know so I can say hello! I'll keep you posted on everything going on over the week here in Chicago. Have a wonderful week.